Reclining attachment for wheel chairs



June 14, 1966 w. E. MIZE ETAL 3,256,040

REGLINING ATTACHMENT FOR WHEEL CHAIRS Filed Aug. 15, 1964 INVENTORSZ WILLIAM E. MIZE EDWARDHENDRES ATTORNEYS securely 'aflixed to a conventional wheel chair.

United States Patent 3,256,040 RECLINING ATTACHMENT FOR WHEEL CHAIRS William E. Mize, Cleveland, and Edward H. Endres, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignors to Institutional Industries, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Aug. 13, 1964, Ser. No. 389,303 13 Claims. (Cl. 297310)- This invention relates to an attachment for wheel chairs, and more specifically, to a device which may be mounted upon a wheel chair so as to stabilize the chair when it is tipped rearwardly.

A main object of the present invention is to provide an attachment, or more accurately a pair of attachments, which will hold a wheel chair in a rearwardly-tipped reclining position for the purpose of redistributing a patients weight upon the supporting surfaces of the chair. Such redistribution is not only conducive to sleep or relaxation, but-also tends to promote circulation, relieve pressure sores, and generally improve the patients comfort.

Another object of the invention is to provide a reclining or tipping attachment which may be quickly and A further important object is to provide a wheel chair attachment which is not only readily attachable and detachable from a wheel chair but one which is also particularly safe in use. In this connection, it is a specific object'to provide an attachment which tends to become more firmly anchored in place when the forces incident to its use are applied thereto.

Other objects will appear from the specification and drawings in which;

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view showing a conventional wheel chair equipped with reclining attachments embodying the present invention, the chair being shown 'in broken lines in a rearwardly-tipped reclining position;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of a reclining bar attachment mounted upon the frame of a wheel chair;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged broken and exploded perspective view illustrating structural details responsible for the adjustabi'lity of the reclining attachment;

FIGURE 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line 44 of FIGURE 2.

p In FIGURE 1 of the drawings, the numeral generally designates a conventional wheel chair having a pair of opposite but otherwise identical side frames 11, each side frame including anupstanding tubular back rest member 12 equipped with handles 13, a horizontal tubular bottom member 14, an upper tubular horizontal member 15, a front upright 16 equipped at its lower end with acas'tor wheel 17, an arm rest tube 18, and a foot rest assembly 19. A large drive wheel 20 is connected to each side frame along the lower portion of rear tubular member 12, an d a pair of horizontal seatsupp0rting members 21 support a fabric seat between the side frames. Normally, where the chair is of the folding type, the seat supporting members 21 are carried by folding links (not shown) although other support means may be provided where the chair is non-folding or rigid. Since the structure so far described is entirely conventional and is well known, and since it does not of itself constitute the structure of the present invention, further description herein of such conventional wheel chair construction is believed unnecessary.

3,256,040 Patented June 14, 1966' time pulling rearwardly on 'handles 13. Because the forces are simultaneously applied both above and below the rotational axes of the rear wheels, an attendantmay easily tip the chair rearwardly without encountering difficulty in preventing forward or rearward movement of the chair as a whole. Since they are of considerable help to attendants in maintaining the control of wheel chairs such tipping levers, arranged in pairs, are standard features of virtually all modern wheel chairs.

An important aspect of the present invention lies in the utilization of tipping levers 22 in combination with means for securely supporting a chair in a rearwardly-tipped reclining position. Such means is illustrated most clearly in FIGURE 2 and comprises a reclining attachment designated generally by the numeral 23. For normal use,

a pair of such attachments will ordinarily be mounted upon the paired tipping levers of a chair, the double arrangement resulting in greater stability than a single attachment. However, it is-to be understood that under some circumstances only a single attachment may be used. Since the attachments of each pair are substantially identical to each other, only a single attachment will be described in detail herein.

. bolt 31. length with similar pairs of vertically aligned openings Referring to FIGURE 2, it will be seen that the lower Each reclining attachment 23 comprises a lower tubular member 24, an upper member 25, and connecting members 26 and 27. The lower tubular member has an internal diameter slightly greater than the external diameter of tipping lever 22 and its open front end thereby defines a socket 28 for snugly but slidably receiving substantially the entire length of the tipping lever. It is to be noted that for the purpose of inserting a tipping lever into the socket of a reclining attachment, the usual rubber bumper cap (not shown) must be removed from the end of the tipping lever. Such removal is easily accomplished because such caps are ordinarily held in place only by the elasticity of the rubber or other material from which the are formed.

In the illustration given, the upper member 25 and I the front connecting member 27 are formed integrally, the front'connecting member constituting a downwardly turned portion of the upper member, At its lower end, the front connecting member is welded or otherwise permanently secured to the lower member 24 adjacent the forward end thereof.

To make the attachment adaptable for chairs of different size, as well as to permit adjustment of any given chair to varying degrees of tip, the upper member 25 is preferably extensible. As shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, member 25 actually comprises a pair of telescoping members 25a and 25b. Member 25b is telescopingly received within the inner bore of tubular member 25a and projec'ts rearwardly from the open end of the latter member. The outer member 25a is provided with vertically aligned diametrically disposed openings 29 and 30 which receive The inner member'25b is provided along its 32, 33 and 34, and the openings of any pair may be brought into register with the openings 29 and 30 of the large tubular member so that when bolt 31 is inserted therethrough the paired tubes will be locked against extension or retraction. At its free end, the innermost tube 25b is provided with a resilient bumper cap 35.

The rear connecting member 26 is welded or otherwise rigidly secured to both the upper and lower tubular members 25 and 24. If desired, a resilient bumper cap 36 rznay be fitted upon the free end of lower tubular member It is significant that .the upper tubular member 25 is spaced well above the lower member 24 and projects rearwardly a substantial distance beyond the lower member. When mounted as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, the reclining attachment 23 has its upper tubular member sufficiently above the axis of the chairs lower frame member 14 that the free end of the upper member 25 projects rearwardly beyond the periphery of drive wheel 20. Thus, when the chair is in the rearwardly tipped position indicated in broken lines in FIGURE 1, the resilient tip portion 35 of the reclining attachment engages the floor surface well behind the rear limits of drive wheel and, as a result, well behind the center of gravity of the chair even when it is occupied. By extending or retracting the adjustable inner tubular member b, the angle or extent of rearward tip of the chair may be varied to suit the preference of the occupant.

Referring to FIGURES 2 and 4, it will be seen that the front connecting member 27 is equipped with a connecting strap 37 which extends about the rear frame member 12 of the chair and which is anchored in place by a bolt 38 extending through aligned apertures in the strap and the tubular member 27. A wing nut 39 is preferably threaded upon the bolt to permit attachment and detachment of the strap without the use of tools. Upon removal of the strap, the reclining attachment may be removed from the chair by simply sliding the lower tubular element off of the tipping lever.

When the reclining attachment is in use, the upward force exerted against the free rearend of the upper member tends to flex that member as well as to force the lower tubular member 24 into even tighter frictional engagement with the tipping lever 22. A forwardly-directed force is applied by connecting member 27 to the upstanding rear frame member 12 of the chair. While the parts are already securely held together by the connecting strap 37 and by the interfit between lower tubular member 24 and tipping lever 22, the forces imposed when the reclining attachment is in use tend to anchor that attachment even more firmly in place.

The slight spring action of the upper member 25 gives a pleasant cushioning effect when the attachment is in use and adds substantially to the comfort and enjoyment of the device. It has been found that a patient, by shifting his weight, manipulating the drive wheels, and utilizing the momentum of his body and of the chain may easily tip the chair rearwardly from its normal position into a reclining position, as represented by broken lines in FIG- URE 1. Conversely, with very little experience a patient may easily bring a rearwardly tipped chair back to its normal position without the help of an attendant.v

Since the reclining bars must of necessity extend behind the large drive wheels of the chair, they increase the overall dimensions of the chair. Such an increase in overall dimensions may be undesirable, as where the chair is to be maneuvered in close quarters. The ease with which the reclining devices may be attached and detached is therefore of considerable importance inthis respect.

While in the foregoing an embodiment of the invention has been disclosed in considerable detail for purposes of illustration, it will be understood that many of these details may be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. In combination with a wheel chair having at least one tipping lever extending rearwardly from the lower back side thereof, a reclining attachment comprising a tubular first member having a socket receiving said tipping lever, and a second member above said first member and connected thereto, said second member extending rearwardly beyond said first member and having a tip portion at its rear end engageable with a floor surface for supporting said chair when the same is tipped rearwardly.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said chair is equipped with a pair of said reclining attachments disposed in spaced side-by-side relation.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which said second member is flexible and extensible.

4. The structure of claim 1 in which said tip portion is resilient.

5. A reclining attachment adapted to be mounted upon the rearwardly-extending tipping lever of a standard wheel chair, comprising a tubular first member having a socket adapted to receive said tipping lever, and a second member disposed above said first member and connected thereto, said second member projecting rearwardly beyond said first member and having a tip portion at its rear end engageable with a floor surface for supporting a chair when the same is in a rearwardly tipped position.

6. The structure of claim 5 in which said second member is extensible and comprises a pair of telescoping tubular sections.

- 7. The structure of claim 5 in which said first and second members are substantially parallel and are spaced apart by rigid connecting members.

8. The structure of claim 7 in which one of said connecting members is disposed adjacent the mouth of the socket provided by said first member, said one connnecting member being equipped with connecting means for engaging the upstanding rear tubular member of a wheel chair and for holding said one connecting member tightly thereagainst.

9. In combination with a wheel chair having a pair of vertical side frames equipped at their lower rear sides thereof with a pair of generally horizontal and rearwardly-extending tipping levers, said tipping levers being disposed between the rear drive wheels of said chair, a pair of reclining attachments each comprising a tubular lower member having a socket snugly but slidably receiving one of said tipping levers, an upper member spaced above said lower member and projecting rearwardly therebeyond, and at least one connecting member extending between said upper and lower members and rigidly holding the same in generally parallel relation, said upper member of each attachment having a tip portion at its rear enddisposed behind said drive wheels and normally spaced above a floor surface, said tip portion of each attachment .being engageable with a floor surface for supporting said chair when the same is tipped rearwardly about the axles of its drive wheels.

10. The structure of claim 9 in which each attachment is also provided with means extending between said connecting member and an upstanding rear member of said chair for holding said attachment in place upon said tipping lever.

11. The structure of claim 10 in which said means comprises a strap extending about said upstanding rear member of said chair and having its ends detachably connected to said connecting member. 7

12. The structure of claim 9 in which the upper 'member of each of said attachments is extensible.

13. The structure of claim 9 in which the socket of the lower member of each of said attachments receives substantially an entire tipping lever.

No references cited. FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner, 

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A WHEEL CHAIR HAVING AT LEAST ON TIPPING LEVER EXTENDING REARWARDLY FROM THE LOWER BACK SIDE THEREOF, A RECLINING ATTACHMENT COMPRISING A TUBULAR FIRST MEMBER HAVING A SOCKET RECEIVING SAID TIPPING LEVER, AND A SECOND MEMBER ABOVE SAID FIRST MEMBER AND CONNECTED THERETO, SAID SECOND MEMBER EXTENDING REARWARDLY BEYOND SAID FIRST MEMBER AND HAVING A TIP PORTION AT ITS REAR END ENGAGEABLE WITH A FLOOR SURFACE FOR SUPPORTING SAID CHAIR WHEN THE SAME IS TIPPED REARWARDLY. 